@manfromatlantis said:

@DRDMovieMusings said:

@manfromatlantis said:

They could end it with Lisa becoming president.

I don't think they can. And, it has nothing to do with Lisa. I'm of the opinion that they could not actually move The Simpsons age-wise at all. Because of Bart.

Visions of Bart's future were fine, because we always returned to his childhood when the future was all about possibility. If they actually took him to adulthood, Bart would have become one of two things: successful, or a bum.

• If successful, it wouldn't play well as suggesting that kids can be slackers and all will end up okay, it smacks of frat boy-to-Supreme Court ickyness.

• If a bum, it'd just be sad. There's no more possibility, no more hope. Just a sad life.

They could move it up showing bart leaned not to be aslacker.

Well, you might be right. But, clearly, having opted to not move the show at all, and having foisted this crap on us for so long, it's abundantly evident that they ran the show far past their level of creative integrity. They may not have been able to move it up after all, because what they've been giving us is the best they can offer which, in the words of Bart, "both sucks and blows."

I stopped being a regular viewer during is twenty somethingth season, but I catch a rerun once in awhile and see an episode I missed.

It's lost its brilliance to be sure, but it is still good for a chuckle or two.

@MirrorMask said:

@DRDMovieMusings said:

Flogging this dead horse is a travesty. It was culturally significant, one of the great shows of all time...and it's long past its expiry date.

Can they not find the respect, the dignity, to stop this ongoing charade? And leave us with the memories of a phenomenon that changed things - although, not altogether for the better, as it foisted upon us a barrage of adult cartoons racing each other to the bottom of the barrel of crassness, shock, and toilet humor that bears little resemblance to the insightful satire and social commentary that The Simpsons originally brought to the table.

You, of course, may disagree, but you've got to give me bonus points for correctly using both "it's" and "its" in one sentence.

That's like asking studios to stop churning out inane blockbuster sequels. As long as there is an audience, The Simpsons will continue. It's a stable job for all involved, why give it up even if the quality has deteriorated? Also, it probably doesn't interfere with other projects that the cast wants to do.

Yeah, at least "homer" appeared on some SG-1 episodes back in the day

@NeoLosman said:

@HarrySkywalker said:

During the Golden Era of the Simpsons - Season 1 to Season 8 and half of Season 9 - this was the best show ever.

Then it turned to garbage. Yet still way better than that abomination called Family Guy.

Someone honor the memory of Mills Lane, by bringing back Celebrity Death Match

What's that?

@NeoLosman said:

@HarrySkywalker said:

During the Golden Era of the Simpsons - Season 1 to Season 8 and half of Season 9 - this was the best show ever.

Then it turned to garbage. Yet still way better than that abomination called Family Guy.

Someone honor the memory of Mills Lane

Lane gets no honor from me. That Tyson-Holyfield fight was a travesty, he failed to maintain a level playing field for both fighters. Holyfield got away with a barrage of deliberate head-butts, Lane did nothing about it, Tyson retaliated with the now infamous tactic, and was made to look like the bad guy.

@NeoLosman said:

Bring back Celebrity Death Match for sheer nostalgia's sake then

But what's that?

@NeoLosman said:

This being a FOX series, the chances are exponential that even if it were cancelled, we'd still be cursed with sporadic attempts to resurrect Springfield for the next several decades, ala. repeated attempts to dust off The X Files, 24, 21 Jump Street, etc etc. Perhaps then it's much more astute to leave the series on the air, until it becomes the pop culture equivalent of AP&P. Still on the landscape, but no one pays it much attention

FOX has always had a long run of shutting down amazing shows for no apparent reason.

Holy cow I'm just seeing this and realizing this show is still going?? The horror the horror.

I totally agree with OP that this was a snapshot in time, irreverent, crass, immature and sarcastic. HILARIOUS at the time. But kinda like the 7th grade class clown, he's funny with that 1 fart joke but if he keeps doing it every day you just want to flush his head down the toilet.

The only way shows survive past 1 generation (artistically speaking, I'm not talking profitability) is if the characters continually evolve or get replaced. Probably the best example would be Saturday Night Live since the cast, writers & characters constantly get updated. I mean, hilarious as it may have been at the time, we don't want 50 years of John Belushi doing samurai deli every week.

I haven't seen the Simpsons in ages but if they're the same characters & the same brand of humor from 30+ years ago then yeah, no thanks.